Across the Universes
by Lunar Crystallos
Summary: At a great cost the Second Giant War was won. Gaia was defeated and the Olympians triumphed. But one powerful enemy survived, and Nico Di Angelo will have to pay the price...
1. Chapter 1

The battle was a nightmare. It was too horrible, too awful to be anything else. The air smelled of death in a way that shouldn't be possible and the sounds were so terrible they couldn't be real. And yet, as Nico desperately fought his way forward, it was.

The conclusion to the Giant War was worse than any battle in the Titan War. Both sides, demigod and monster alike, lost more than could be counted. Blood and tears stained the soil of the ancient land, and despair saturated the air.

Nico ignored the destruction around him and steadily progressed toward his goal. In front of him towered a monolith, its stone smooth and black. At the top sat a round meteorite that was glowing slightly, and it was toward this rock that Nico made his way. Many times some mythological creature stuck at him with a blade, but each time the son of Hades waved his hand and a skeleton rose to defend him. He couldn't waste time fighting foot soldiers. His task was urgent.

Nico didn't know how long it was before he reached his destination. Time was immeasurable when every moment could mean the loss of a life. He had fallen into a trance of running and dodging when he suddenly stumbled to a confused halt.

There was no one around him. He had broken through the last line of Gaia's army, but he was still many yards away from the meteorite that held the key to the war. It should have been guarded until the last foot, not left alone in an empty ring. Nico glanced around and stepped forward. Behind him, an empousa hissed a warning.

"Go no further, Nico Di Angelo. Rejoin the battle, do not die a useless death. Fight me and perhaps you will meet your end with honor." Nico whipped around and glared. The goddess Hecate was the mistress of the empousai, yet still many fought for Gaia against her. This was one such traitor. On principle Nico summoned a skeleton to send the monster back to Tartarus before continuing his journey forward.

It was five seconds after that when Nico realized his mistake. The area surrounding the monolith was not as empty as he thought. Around the base, staring at him with an expression akin to a cat watching a mouse, was coiled a giant serpent.

"_I am Python, nemesis of Apollo, son of Gaia. Do you dare to challenge me, godling?" _The voice was not spoken but rather whispered, vibrating through Nico's body. _"I hope you do. I would love to spread my poison in your veins, love to watch you scream and beg as you die."_

Nico recalled a lecture from Annabeth about Python. "The giant serpent was appointed to guard the Oracle of Delphi by Gaia. Apollo slew the beast when claiming the shrine. He used arrows, of course. Not just because the bow is his weapon, but because even a god could have been harmed by Python's fangs. He's a drakon, Nico. Far older and more dangerous than the one Clarisse killed."

She had looked at him then, grey eyes serious. "If you ever come across Python, no matter how powerful you think you are, don't fight him. You won't win."

The boy closed his eyes for a second, overwhelmed by the task before him. He knew he could not fail or the consequences would be immense. And yet how could he, only a teenager, be expected to do this?

Nico remembered Percy's sacrifice, falling into Tartarus to close the gates of death. Percy and Annabeth had survived and returned successful. If they could do that, then he could do this. He _would_ do this.

Nico felt power pool in his veins and attacked.

* * *

Any armor had long been discarded. The metal was either corroded or damaged beyond repair in some other way. Nico was lucky that his sword was Stygian Iron, otherwise his blade would have also been eaten by Python's poison.

As it was, he had a feeling that he was being played with. The serpent seemed more amused than hurt when Nico landed a blow, and Nico knew that the drakon could have swallowed him easily.

Nico had used skeletal warriors in the beginning, but that tactic soon proved unhelpful. The bones were easily melted by the drakon's poison, and large groups were simply swept aside with a strike of the tail. The only thing that they did manage to do was drain Nico's energy, so he quickly abandoned that idea.

Nico jumped as Python's tail whipped under his feet. A stream of acid shot past him and he swore as his skin burned where a few drops landed. The demigod dropped into a roll, ducking under Python's striking head, and brought his sword up under the reptile's neck. The blade bounced off a group of hard scales and Python laughed in a weird choking hiss.

_"Do you give up? Do you see how hopeless your situation is? You can not kill me. No mere mortal has ever bitten me with their blade, and you will not be the first. How many of your people have died by giant hands while you attempt this useless endeavor? All who you care for must surely be dead!"_

With a sinking feeling in his gut Nico tried to ignore the snake's words. But try as he might, Nico could not dismiss the small grain of truth in them. It had to have been at least an hour since he had begun to fight Python, and in that time he had made no progress toward the stone. Many could have perished in that time, including his friends. He had to end this now.

When Python once again lashed out at him Nico jumped into the monolith's shade. He shadow traveled behind Python's head and brought his blade down as hard as he could. His sword slipped off hard scales and did no real damage, but the snake did still for a moment in surprise. Another second later and Python had flipped Nico off of his back and pinned him to the ground with a thick coil.

_"I am done playing. Here, this hour, this day will be your end. Know that your death was pointless." _Python reared back, about to sink his fangs into Nico's flesh, when a voice infused with power rang out.

"Pausa!" Python froze and Nico desperately wriggled out from where he had been stuck. Hecate, a goddess that Nico had become close to, stood with her hand outstretched. Through gritted teeth she growled "Destroy the meteorite. I will deal with Python."

Nico hesitated. Hecate was powerful, but not as powerful as Apollo. Already Python was starting to twitch, breaking free of her spell. "Go, child! That stone is more important than me!"

Nico launched into motion and started to climb the imposing rock structure. He drew out his knives and stabbed them into the rock above his head. Quickly, he pulled himself up and repeated the action. Nico's muscles were screaming by the time he hoisted himself over the monolith's edge to stand on the stone structure.

In front of him sat the meteorite, its appearance surprisingly ordinary for something so important. Nico spared himself a moment to reflect on the irony of Gaia using an object from outer space as the physical manifestation of her power. He would have expected it to be something more along the lines of a diamond or ruby. The moment passed, and Nico swung his sword at the rock with all his strength.

As it shattered a blast of power was released, knocking Nico off the tall structure. He hit the ground with a sickening thump next to the still bodies of Hecate and Python.

* * *

A battlefield away Gaia had taken human form. Mounds of bodies surrounded her, all victims of her blades. Demigods fought her on all sides, shouting insults and threats, but in their eyes she could see that they had accepted defeat. Gaia swung her wicked sword, cutting down many in one stroke, and then paused in alarm.

Something was wrong. Someone was… _someone was near her power source. _In a panic she disengaged the young heroes she was fighting and gathered herself to teleport. She wasn't fast enough. Agony rushed through Gaia's veins and she screamed.

When Gaia felt the stone destroyed she knew she had lost. The meteorite was like the Olympian's thrones, and now that it was gone she was fading. She flickered once and turned translucent. For a second, the once powerful goddess looked like a ghost. She made one last desperate attempt to kill the demigods she was fighting, but her sword and hand passed through them. Gaia flickered one final time, her expression one of despair, and then disappeared.

The demigods, who a little while ago had thought they were going to die, looked on in astonishment. Those who Gaia had resurrected were dead once more, and the last few enemies were easily killed without their mistress to command them. In a matter of minutes the second Giant War was won.

* * *

Nico couldn't breathe. His vision was blurred and his ribs felt broken. A horrible ringing filled his ears and he coughed painfully. Blood dribbled down his chin.

"Shh, Nico. Breathe." A warm feeling crept down from his head, expanding through out his body. The pain faded away and Nico realized that there was a hand on his forehead.

"Hecate?" Nico tried. It came out as a jumbled slur. A soft voice laughed above his head.

"Take it easy. You just won the Second Giant War, after all." Nico tried to ask a question, but the minor goddess hushed him. She got the gist of it anyway and replied.

"You destroyed Gaia's power source. She's gone. Your friends have defeated the rest of her army and are now caring for the wounded." A gentle face swam into focus. Hecate had a small smile and was literally glowing from the healing magic. "You'll be happy to know that the seven you came here with are all fine. A bit banged up, perhaps, but alive." Nico made another questioning noise.

"I got in a lucky blow. Python is dead."

* * *

Python was very much _not_ dead. The serpent was paralyzed from Hecate's magic but was slowly regaining the ability to move. Mentally the monster shrieked his grief over the destruction of his mother and his rage over the victory of his nemesis. His thoughts were feral and wild, but one thought did stand out clearly.**  
**

_"The demigod did this. The one that smelled of death and the Underworld. This is his __fault."_

Slowly, born from the turmoil of fury and anguish in his mind, a plan was formed by the giant drakon.

* * *

One moment Hecate was hovering over him, healing and comforting, and the next she was arched backwards, a silent scream torn from her lips. Nico could only watch in horror as a white fang pierced though her stomach. A black substance, different from the green venom Python had shot at him earlier, _crawled_ across the goddesses and sank into her skin.

The fang was retracted and a voice Nico thought he would never have to hear again hissed, "_I swear by the River Styx you will pay for your actions today, demigod. You will be torn from your family and friends, you will be taken from all that you love. And then you will suffer as your world crumbles. __Remember, young hero," _the tone turned mocking, _"that this is my doing. I am the reason you will long for death, and I am the reason for your troubles. But also remember, son of death, that this would never have happened if your own actions didn't demand punishment!"_

Nico barely had time to register Hecate's eyes turning black before the ground opened up beneath him. Words infused with power sounded in his head, bitter and full of hate, echoing in Hecate's voice.

But Hecate had always treated Nico gently as if he were her son, and any spell that Nico had ever heard her cast was spoken softly. This spell was shouted violently, and Nico felt the magic sting his skin as if it were attacking him. Fear overtook him, and Nico passed out.

When he woke up, Nico was staring at a strange sky, completely alone.

* * *

A women hurried down a blank corridor, a forced expression of calm fixed on her face.

"Director Fury… we have a problem."

* * *

A/N: I think I went a little overboard on the line breaks. Oh well. I would also like to apologize for any spelling and grammatical errors, I am convinced they are multiplying behind my back.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico figured out very quickly that something was wrong. It could have been the small things that tipped him off, like how when he walked down the street in his bloody, battle worn clothes no one blinked. But that could be because it was New York City, and here the strange was considered the norm.

Perhaps it was the propaganda for some group called the Avengers that alerted him. He had never heard of them, and yet they had posters and t-shirts everywhere. Yet that could still be explained away by the fact that he hadn't been in the United States for over a month, and they could be new.

However, the skyscrapers that he was sure never existed before were not so easy to dismiss. Buildings that high were not built in a matter of weeks, and he had never seen the construction for them.

And then there was the _tiny _fact that _the mist wasn't working. _He had no idea how, why, or even when that had happened. Yesterday no mortal had noticed the battle in Greece, but now it was as if they were all clear sighted. Yes, Nico was sure something was very wrong.

That last little issue explained why he was currently being chased down an alley by a police officer. Apparently, not only was the officer able to see his sword and various knives, but also it was suspicious behavior to walk down the street with such weaponry.

"It's _New York,_" the demigod muttered to himself, "and the law is worried about _this?"_ He looked down at himself and then decided to give the officer some slack. With acid holes in his clothes and dried blood staining his arms, he sort of did look like a serial killer.

"Hey you! Stop!" The officer shouted.

Nico figured that in theory he could quit running and talk to the man behind him. After all, he wasn't doing anything wrong. But then the officer might decide to search him, which would turn problematic rapidly. In his defense, he did need money until he could contact camp, but three hundred dollars, all _borrowed_ from unsuspecting citizens, would not put him on the officer's good side.

"Yeah, no thanks," muttered Nico.

He reached the end of the alley and broke into a small street. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the infuriating man was still behind him. Nico swore.

He was no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. Most of his family managed to do something illegal by the age of seven and Nico was no exception. He had plenty of practice running from various officers, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it.

The teenager spotted another alley and ducked into it. Footsteps echoed off the walls behind him, indicating that his tail was still following him. He heard the roar of a busy street ahead and sped up.

Melting into a crowd is usually the easiest way to escape a follower. It's extremely difficult to track an individual in so many people, and hiding in plain sight is often the best way to fool someone. He remembered this and plunged into the throng seconds before realizing that this time it might not be such a good idea. Blending in only works if you look like those around you.

When the policeman careened onto the sidewalk and immediately started shouting, "Stop him, stop him!" no one wondered who he was talking about. Nico stood out like a sore thumb. Hands reached out to grab him and multiple people attempted to restrain him.

Nico dodged and ducked. He violently shoved his way forward, knocking a few people over, and cursed his stupidity. He saw an opening and took it, desperate to get away. He ran out into the road, causing several cars to screech to an abrupt halt, and vaulted across a vehicle to reach the far side of the street.

He pushed past several startled passersby, mumbled a hurried apology, and ran into a store. The owner barely had time to let out an enraged "Hey!" when he sprinted toward the back of the shop, accidentally toppling a few racks of "I Love NYC" sweatshirts, before he quickly escaped through the back door.

Nico looked behind himself and sighed in relief. Apparently the last stunt was enough to lose the officer, but to be safe he decided to continue walking until he found a more secluded place.

Once he found a sufficiently abandoned area he leaned against a wall and panted heavily. He was hungry, tired, and injured from the battle. It could have been worse, but luckily Hecate had managed to heal him a small amount before Python injured her. Nico winced as he realized that he could be in this situation with a set of broken ribs. He looked up, letting himself relax for a few seconds, and thought.

His shadow travel wasn't working. For that matter, his necromancy wasn't doing to well either. Last night when he had woken up in Central Park he had tried to travel to camp. He had done everything right, up until the moment he ran into a tree instead of its shadow.

Nico hadn't panicked at that point. He was exhausted from the battle, as unconsciousness didn't really do much in place of sleep, and he had thought his powers were just worn out. It was only when he attempted it a second time that he realized something was very wrong.

He had gathered up his strength, focused as much as his tired brain could handle, and ran into the shadows. Nothing happened. He hadn't even felt the tugging sensation in his gut that accompanied his powers. It was as if his ability to shadow travel had just… disappeared.

Alarmed, he had tried something else. He attempted to summon a few skeleton warriors, a trick that was supposed to be simple and easy. Only one had risen, and after a few seconds it trembled and fell to the ground in pieces. At that point Nico had started to panic.

It had taken him so long to master his powers, and all at once they were failing him. He had been almost as powerful as Percy, yet now he was practically defenseless. It didn't make sense, and it was alarming.

Swallowing the concern that was rapidly rising, he had decided to attempt his most recently mastered ability, controlling shadows to make a weapon or shield. Almost as soon as the shield formed it wavered and disappeared into the moonlight, hardly substantial enough to support a leaf, much less block an attack.

As he sank down against the brick, still slightly winded from the police chase, Nico looked back and wondered if his problem had anything to with Hecate's spell. Python's wound had done something strange to her, and the spell she had casted sounded bad. If the drakon was trying to get revenge by controlling her, this was a good way to do it.

_"I am the reason for your troubles," _Python had said. Inhibiting Nico's powers and leaving him virtually defenseless in New York City… that would certainly, _had _certainly, caused him many difficulties.

"Speaking of difficulties," Nico said to himself, "I better get moving." Just because his powers weren't working didn't mean his scent had faded. Staying in one place was asking to be eaten when you were a demigod, so he got up and began to move.

It was only five minutes before Nico glimpsed the seventh tower that he didn't know. This one had the glowing blue lettering of "Stark" on it, and he _knew_ that a month ago it didn't exist. Finding out what was going on suddenly jumped up on the demigod's priorities.

It was like everything was the same and yet completely different from the New York City Nico thought he knew. The people were still traditional New Yorkers, but they felt off in some way. The city itself was still busy, loud, and big, and yet everything seemed different. It was New York but it wasn't.

Suddenly, Nico recalled something Hecate had told him once.

"_You know, this isn't the only universe," said Hecate._

_Nico looked at her, startled. "What?"_

_She nodded. "Nico, every moment in life is a choice. It's a constant stream of moments where you have to decide to do something, or say something, or ignore someone. Those choices lead you to different experiences, and those different experiences lead you to develop different memories and values, or experience different emotions. _

_Those three things, memories, values, and emotions, make up a person. They decide who you are. But they are so easy to change… one different decision and you could become completely different._

_The universes are based off that, Nico. They are similar in so many ways, but there is always at least one variable changed. One person who made a different decision, became a different person, and therefore changed the world."_

_Nico looked at her, amused. "You're telling me this why?"_

_The goddess of witchcraft, necromancy, and ghosts smiled sheepishly. "I recently found a spell that allows the user to travel between universes. I am… quite a bit exited about it." She glanced over at him and suddenly frowned._

"_No, no, no! Nico, you _aren't_ focusing. I don't know why I agreed to teach you. Concentrate on your center, and _then_ summon the warrior," she said, exasperated. She ruffled his hair, and nine skeletons erupted from the ground._

"_That's cheating," she laughed, " you can't use annoyance to channel your power, do it properly!"_

The realization hit him like a tank. "A different universe…" Nico's next words were very colorful.

* * *

Agent Coulson looked at the ground in interest. He was suddenly very sure that some higher being hated him. Surprisingly, the giant, mysterious symbol scorched onto the ground was not the problem. The pentagram surrounded by ancient Greek symbols was not anything unusual, as his job required him to witness many strange objects (and sometimes strange beings) in one day.

The problem was not the fact that the symbol was in Central Park, either. Yes, taping off a place in the middle of New York City and hiding it from the public eye is not easy, but he had done it before. The gunmen were hidden quite well, and the scientists that technically didn't exist were not going to be seen.

No, his problem was the voice of one Clint Barton, alias Hawkeye, speaking in his ear.

"Let me get this straight. A mysterious and potentially dangerous symbol was discovered. Again. The symbol is giving off readings of an extremely rare form of energy known as magic. Again. And we don't know who did it, why they did it, how they did it, or where they are now. Again." He paused for a moment. "I'm hearing this right, right?"

Coulson controlled his expression and answered coolly. "That is correct."

"Remind me again why-" Hawkeye began.

"You want us to track down the person who did this and determine if they are a threat," Natasha Romanoff, also know as the Black Widow, interrupted.

Coulson appraised the two spies. He had been their handler for years, and even he didn't understand how two people with such different personalities could work so well together. They somehow held SHIELD's record for successful and completed missions even though they were polar opposites.

"Yes," he replied, and resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow when Clint opened his mouth again. Hawkeye was elbowed sharply by his partner, and the mission was accepted.

* * *

The woman was imposing. She somehow towered over everyone around her even though she was only slightly taller. Her face was sharp and her figure was cruel. And yet, despite the dangerous air about her, her actions were kind.

"You poor thing," she said sympathetically, "I'll cure that cough right up." In front of the ragged crowd the savior performed a miracle _for them, _the homeless, the ones others rejected, the scum of society.

When the woman rested her hands on the little girl, the child gasped in air, unhindered for the first time in months. She was no longer dying slowly and painfully, instead color rushed back into her pale cheeks and her eyes cleared. The little girl stood up on shaky legs and took a step forward.

At the same time the woman gasped and fell to the floor, moaning. The little girl and her parents rushed to the strange woman's side, eager to aid her. "Are you alright? Can we do anything to help? Tell us what is wrong!"

The woman looked up, trembling from some unseen strain. "You could… no, it is to much to ask."

"Please. You saved our little girl's life. You have healed many more of us. We would all do _anything,_" at this the father turned around to face the crowd, gesturing. They shouted out their agreement, "_anything_ to help you."

The woman moaned and curled up on the floor, hiding her face. "No…"

"_Please,"_ this time it was the mother begging.

No one noticed the victorious smirk that stretched across Hecate's vicious features.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and followers! A special thanks to my friend, who helped edit and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha surveyed the soup kitchen. The contact agreed to meet there at the beginning of the meal, but it was well into lunch and there was still no sign of SHIELD's person. She mentally sighed in annoyance, and from across the table Clint flashed a quick grin at her.

She still didn't know how he could read her so well. She was one of the best spies in the world, yet he always seemed to know what she was thinking. It was irritating, and judging from his hidden smile, he knew it, too.

Clint's smile suddenly developed a hard edge, causing Natasha to tense. A volunteer cook for the kitchen brushed past her and she felt a folded piece of paper slip into her pocket. She pulled her hair back behind her ear with four fingers, and Clint looked back down at his meal. He got the message that she had been contacted.

Natasha finished up her soup and headed toward the door. She walked down the Texan street and sat down on a bench shadowed by trees. She pulled out the piece of paper and began to read, unworried that someone would wonder what she was doing. She was filthy, smelled bad, and was disguised as homeless. Anyone who glanced her way immediately looked off in a different direction. They were uncomfortable at the sight of her, which suited her current needs perfectly.

Once the paper was read, Natasha headed a few blocks over towards a more tourist-heavy portion of the city. Her lips twitched in a rare moment of expression. This was one cover where she could occasionally show real emotions, and this moment was one she felt she could allow herself to smile at.

Clint was begging. And he would keep everything he got, the rascal. He was supposed to be listening for anything regarding their target, and although begging was one cover for that job, he could have easily chosen something else. Instead he went with the alias that allowed him to trick people into giving him money.

Natasha slipped through the crowd and sat next to him. She would have put the paper into his can to show him that she was on to him, but she didn't. Someone would wonder what a person as poor as her was doing, giving money to someone else.

"What did it say?" Clint asked, cutting directly to the point.

Natasha lowered her voice when she answered. People had a habit of hearing things that interested them, and this conversation had the potential to be very intriguing to random civilians. "There's been another attack. Fury wants to us to move quicker; we can't let the target become more powerful."

"So the target's still increasing in power with every attack?"

"Yes. The energy left behind is also increasing in strength and duration. If we drag this out any longer, we might end up facing another Loki," Natasha replied. "So, what've you got?"

"Nothing," Clint sighed. "At least, nothing new. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between who was attacked, their age, gender, religion, or their race.

"The attacks all seem to be occult, which makes sense when we take into account the target. There have been burnings, sacrifices, blood rituals, and traditional hocus-pocus spells. Only, the spells work, and they actually end up hurting people," Clint finished.

"There's something else," she stated, watching his expression closely.

"Yeah." Clint's jaw clenched, and she watched as he forced himself to relax. "The target's followers are growing. Before it seemed to be just a few adults, but recently a child was identified over security cameras participating in a ritual. It seems that not only are there more people partaking in the attacks, but the age range is also widening."

So that's why he didn't want to tell her. A little girl tricked and forced by those around her to do bad things… that hit a little close to home.

He looked at her in concern, but she closed off her expression. She wasn't going to get upset at a small reminder of her past.

Natasha focused herself when Clint began to speak. "How are things on your end?" he inquired.

"Alright. I've made contact with Hound. She knows I'm interested in joining, but she doesn't trust me enough to give me any information, let alone let me in on a meeting," she replied. He looked at her knowingly.

"How soon will she trust you?" he questioned.

"Later tonight. We'll have the target by tomorrow," she stated.

"You need me." She knew his statement wasn't condescending or meant to imply that she wasn't capable. Contrarily, it was a mark of how well he could read her, and an acknowledgment that he was aware her plan involved him.

"Yes." She spent another minute to go over what she had in mind, and when she finished he nodded once. His attention drifted away from her for a split second, and Natasha knew from his body language that he was done with the conversation. She stood up and walked back into the sweaty mob of summer tourists, moving through the crowd easily.

The rest of the day Natasha spent moving throughout the city, years of paranoia preventing her from staying in one place. As she walked she thought about the moral complexity of the mission, something she tried to never do but couldn't avoid when idle.

The target was hurting people. Their actions were violent and brutal, which was why SHIELD wanted the mission done quickly. And yet the target was acquiring more and more followers by helping others. Clint had found out that the target healed people, gaining their loyalty in the process, and had actually managed to save many that were not or could not be saved by doctors.

By retrieving the target for SHIELD, a dangerous individual would be taken off the streets. But at the same time, Natasha would be depriving some people of medical help. If those people in the latter group died, in a way it would be her fault. Natasha mentally forced herself to stop thinking like that and instead scanned her surroundings again.

She was waiting for night to fall. Her lead could not be followed during the day, which meant that she had to be patient. She was close to her target, and if she were less experienced the anticipation would have been difficult to deal with. Fortunately she was very skilled at her job, so the hours passed quickly and soon it was time.

She made her way to the Ghost, a seedy bar and club with the cheesy catch phrase "Spirits and Boos" painted on the windows. At the door she nodded to Clint who was sitting outside.

When she opened the door music blasted toward her, and the smell of sweat and alcohol assaulted her nose. Opting to walk along the edges of the dance floor instead of pushing through the sweaty wall of bodies, the female spy timidly progressed to the bar. The bartender leaned over and leered at her, whistling appreciatively.

She scuttled backwards, fully in character, and then softly asked a question.

"Didn't quite catch that, deary. Come closer and tell me again," the man said. He grinned, revealing several rotten teeth, and Natasha took a moment before doing as he told her to.

"Do you know a women called Hound?" she asked apprehensively.

The man straightened up and scowled. "Now that aint no fun, sweetie. I'll go an ask her if she wants t' see you." He turned around and pushed his way through a door behind the bar. A moment later he came out, trailing behind the woman who chose to go by Hound. Hound thanked the man and then gestured for Natasha to go over to a secluded corner of the bar.

When she got there, Hound looked at her and smiled encouragingly. "Hello again, Patricia. What brings you here tonight?"

"It's my… it's my brother," Natasha stammered out, looking down at her feet.

Hound frowned. "I know he needs help, but I told you, so do a lot of other people. I would love to help him, but I'm afraid it's just not possible right now."

"But… you said you knew someone who could heal anything. Please, I would do _anything_. Anything you need, or anything this person needs, I would do without question. Just… just help my brother," Natasha said, her voice breaking.

Hound looked at her with a regret that Natasha was surprised to recognize as genuine. "I'm sorry, but I can't…"

Natasha grasped Hound's shirt in her hand, crying. "Please… he's outside. I brought him here. Just come see him once, if you can't heal him. At least give him hope. I don't think he's going to survive another week," Natasha pleaded. She sobbed violently, and pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

"I'll go see him," Hound said at last, and then gently led Natasha to the door.

When the pair broke into the cool night air Hound immediately found Clint, who was propped up against the wall. His breaths rattled, and in the light that spilled out from under the door Natasha could see sweat beading his forehead. Hound frowned and knelt down in front of him. She asked him a question that Natasha couldn't hear, but Clint didn't answer.

"Why isn't he responding?" Hound directed this inquiry to Natasha.

"He's been like this for days. He doesn't reply to anything I say, his fever feels like it's getting worse, I can't afford a hospital and it's been a week-"

Hound cut her off. "Calm yourself." Her voice softened, and her next words the ones Natasha had been aiming to hear. "Listen. This is worse than I had originally believed. Tomorrow, there's a meeting where the person I told you about can heal your brother. Go to this address," Hound said, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper and scribbling something down, "at ten in the evening."

Hound looked up and handed over the piece of paper. "Discretion would be appreciated. I'm sure you understand."

Natasha nodded and cried. "Thank you, thank you. I can't… I will never be able to repay you. Thank you."

Hound gripped her shoulders and looked into Natasha's eyes. "Your brother will get better. I promise," she stated, and then disappeared back into the club.

Natasha pulled Clint up, still crying, and hobbled with him down the street. Once they turned the corner into an alley, however, Natasha shoved his arm off her shoulder.

"You wound me, sister, with your heartless actions," he said, mocking his previous act.

"You wound me with your bad breath," she shot back in a rare moment of humor. The two spies had gotten the information they needed, and for a brief time they celebrated in their own odd manner.

* * *

Beautiful scenery that Nico found utterly boring flashed by the bus window. He was highly irritated, and ready to randomly attack the next person that spoke to him just for something to do. He was ADD and dyslexic, yet because he couldn't shadow travel he had to sit on an hour-long bus ride and read the news.

To make the situation worse, the news wasn't just painful to read because he was struggling to make out the words. A few weeks ago, almost every headline involved the cult related killings in Dallas, Texas. Now, however, with the cult still going strong and the police without any leads, the same topic got one or two lines, and only then in the lesser-known papers. It should have still been getting multiple paragraphs in every paper, but instead the situation was receiving an oddly small amount of attention.

Someone, or something, was trying to keep the story out of the media. And judging from the lack of information Nico could find, they were succeeding. Nico's hand twitched toward his knives. He needed to blow off some energy.

It had been a month since Nico had arrived in this universe. The first week he had spent figuring out a safe place to stay, the best crowds to _borrow_ money from, how to eat, and other necessities. During that time he had learned a bit more about this universe, including the surprising existence of superheroes and villains.

The rest of the month he had spent trying to track down Hecate. At first he attempted to find her out of selfish desires. He wanted to go back to his universe, his home, and relax from the war. He also wanted to make sure that she had recovered from whatever Python had done to her.

But sometime in the middle of the second week his reasons for locating her changed. He read about the attacks in Texas and knew immediately that she had not recovered. The effects of the attacks were very similar to the results of her battle magic, and the strange materials found at some of the crime scenes were ingredients for spells. Nico knew that she normally was a gentle goddess, but the attacks were obviously her doing. She had to be stopped, and as much as he hated to fight her, as the only demigod in the world Nico knew that the responsibility fell to him.

Which was why he was currently on a bus. He needed to go to Dallas to track her down himself because the newspapers weren't giving him information.

Nico threw down the paper he was reading and growled under his breath. He couldn't do this much longer, reading and sitting still were physically painful. He formed a fist to control himself, and then shot up from his bored slouch.

He flexed his hand again, and a shadow scuttled across the seat in front of him. He glanced around, saw that everyone around him was occupied with their own business, and tested something quickly.

Underneath the seat of the person in front of him, hidden from everyone's view but himself, Nico formed a shield of shadows. He looked at it in hope for a few seconds, and it didn't dissolve. Tentatively, he nudged it with his foot, and it held. It seemed as if his powers had come back.

Exited now, he glanced around and tried to command the shadow casted by a man's luggage to crawl up to the ceiling. It worked.

The rest of the bus ride he tried to subtly experiment with his regained powers, but to his dismay found them fading again. It was as if the more he used them, the weaker they became. He bitterly mused that the reason they worked so well earlier was because he hadn't used them for over three weeks, and that in the near future they would be useless again. He hoped that his assumption was wrong.

When Nico got off the bus in the heart of the city, it was dusk. He knew that there was a full moon that night and that Hecate would likely take advantage of it, so he had to move quickly. From what she had told him, spells tended to be more powerful on the full moon, so tonight's attack would be devastating.

He hoped he could stop her in time.

* * *

Hawkeye crouched on a beam that ran across the warehouse ceiling. He was completely hidden by shadows, and he had an unobstructed view of the target. He was slightly surprised when he first saw her, as he had been subconsciously expecting Loki, not this tall, imposing woman.

"They mock us, they spit on us, and why? Are we less than them? Are they better than us?" The target was working her followers into a frenzy, driving them into the blood rage that had made them murder.

The first part of the meeting had not been quite so violent. As people trickled in to the hidden location, Hecate had gone to each of them and offered them help. Clint had seen her touch people and they would stop limping, stop coughing, or stand straighter. But then, at some point, the event had taken a more violent turn.

"Are we not human beings too?" she shouted.

The crowd of about one hundred roared an answer, and Clint tightened his grip on his bow. It would soon be time to tranquillize her, but not quite yet. SHIELD wanted all of her followers at the meeting place before he took her out. That way they could be rounded up in one go, and there wouldn't be anyone left to continue the attacks.

"Should we stand by as they look down on us? Should we let them go unpunished?"

The answering cries were louder this time, and the target spread her hands above her head. In each palm she held a ball of flame, and threw them up into the air. They grew into large banners of fire, streaming the length of the warehouse.

"Then tonight we shall get our just revenge! We shall make them pay! I shall give you what you deserve!" The target yelled.

The answering chant of "Hecate! Hecate! Hecate!" finally gave Hawkeye the name of the target. It seemed to be a closely guarded secret, and he smiled grimly.

"Hawkeye, SHIELD is in position. On your call, shoot." He cocked his head at the message over the com link, and thought for a brief moment. It seemed as if the crowd was ready to start the attack at any time, and he doubted that anyone else would join in this late in the game.

He pulled out an arrow and brought it into position with a practiced motion. He let out a breath, focused on the target, and paused. "Well," he whispered, "this is an interesting development."

* * *

Nico found Hecate far more easily than he anticipated. He had become highly sensitive to the power gods and goddesses radiated as a result of spending so much time in the Underworld with his father. The entire city of Dallas was covered in Hecate's power, so it was just a matter of following the energy to where it was strongest.

The trail had led him to a warehouse, and he slipped in the back door as quietly as possible. His stomach boiled in anger and slight fear at what he saw. At least a hundred mortals were chanting Hecate's name, and she stood there with her arms outstretched, encouraging them.

He cursed under his breath. This was going to be harder than he thought. He had hoped to find her while she was alone so he could talk to her, and if things went south he would be able to fight her without anyone else getting hurt. In this situation he wouldn't be able to reason with her, and if he did fight her he would have the mob to worry about as well.

Nico gripped his sword and narrowed his eyes. He really wouldn't have minded a skeleton soldier right now. He began to consider the best way to proceed when her voice rang out and addressed him.

"How nice of you to join us, _Nico,_" she said, spitting his name like it was dirt. "I've been waiting for this. Why don't you come up here for a moment?"

"I'd rather stay here, thanks," he replied, panic jolting through him. He had no idea what to do.

"That wasn't a request." She turned a palm toward him and whispered a word. Nico found himself suddenly beside her, sword ripped and thrown from his grip, and she grabbed his shoulder. Her fingernails dug into his skin, and he flinched.

"You deserve death, Di Angelo, for your crimes." It was as if Python was speaking to him through Hecate. Her eyes flashed at him with hate, and Nico could tell in that moment that she was most definitely not human. "And I _will_ end you."

"I don't know what you're accusing me of," he said recklessly, attempting to pull back from her painful grip. She smirked, and a horrified anticipation rose up in his throat. She leaned toward his ear, and whispered three words.

"_You killed Gaia." _

Bile rose up in his throat. He had known that Hecate was compromised, but to have it confirmed, to hear from her own voice how she had been corrupted, made him sick. Nico swallowed, forced the crippling emotions back, and replied in typical demigod fashion.

"I enjoyed it, too." The backhanded slap echoed throughout the silent warehouse, loud even though over one hundred people were present. It knocked Nico to the ground, and she towered over him, blades in hand.

Fighting instincts kicked in and Nico lunged toward his sword. He grabbed it and spun around just in time to parry Hecate's downward strike. He honestly hadn't expected his words to invoke this amount of anger, but he was starting to appreciate the gravity of his careless retort. He was powerless, and the angry goddess had taken his words as a challenge.

Hecate swung her blades at his head, and Nico dropped back to the ground. Seconds later he leapt back up, only to be forced to jump sideways to avoid her swift follow-up. He swiped his sword at her stomach, but he didn't have the emotional strength to actually strike her, and she defended his attack easily.

She pushed him backward, her blades a flurry of movement. Nico struggled to defend himself, and when she swung at his head again he realized how outmatched he was. If this continued, he would die.

Desperate, Nico lunged forward and managed to cut her forearm. She faltered for a moment, and Nico pressed his advantage. He applied a complicated move that Percy had taught him and disarmed one of her blades, only to promptly be knocked over.

"You will not harm my mistress," someone hissed. Nico looked up and slashed at the new figure above him. Agony erupted through his sword arm before the blow landed. Fangs sank into his flesh, and Nico cursed.

Hound, one of Hecate's two familiars, was biting him. Seconds ago she had been in human form, but now she was attempting to rip his arm off with canine teeth and claws. He let out a grunt and brought the pommel of his sword down on the dog's head. Instantly the strong jaws relaxed, but the wounds they left would not heal quickly.

A hand grabbed the back of Nico's shirt and hauled him up, choking him in the process. "A minute ago I was prepared to let you die quickly. I'm not as inclined to do that anymore, now that you've hurt my familiar. Now, I will _burn your world._" She swung a fist at his face, and the world went black.

* * *

Hawkeye didn't want to interrupt. The teenager was an unknown variable, and he didn't know what would happen if he took the target out during the fight. Only once the boy was knocked out did he draw back his arrow once more. He let out a breath and aimed.

Hecate looked down and knelt at Hound's injured flank. She whispered a word, and the crowd of people vanished. He assumed that she had teleported them somewhere, and his jaw tightened. SHIELD would have a lot of trouble finding them again.

He consciously relaxed and fired his arrow. He swore out loud when Hecate and Hound disappeared as well, a moment before the arrow flew through the air where they had been. The mission had been a complete failure.

His carefully controlled anger died down when he saw the boy, still unconscious on the floor. He knew Director Fury would have a few questions for the teenager.

Perhaps the mission hadn't been a complete failure after all.

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much to all who reviewed! Your support and feedback is very much appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

A single flickering bulb hung over the table, leaving the edges of the room encased in shadows. Nico stared it as he struggled back into consciousness, watching the light blur into focus.

"Gods," he sighed, once he was finally coherent enough to make sense of his surroundings. He was in a chair, handcuffed to an old wooden table. The only way out of the concrete cell he was chained in was a metal door. A metal door with no handle, to be specific.

He pulled at the cuffs experimentally and then winced. Pain shot up his arm, reminding Nico of his injury. He glanced down to see if the scratches were infected, and was surprised to find that someone had cleaned and bandaged the wound. That was good news, at least. His captors, whoever they were, seemed to care at least a little bit about his health. That was more than could be said for pretty much any monster Nico had ever had the pleasure of being imprisoned by.

"I wouldn't try to get out of those cuffs if I were you." Nico had a brief flash of panic before he located the speaker. In his initial scan of the room he hadn't noticed anyone, and he knew for a fact the door had not opened at any point. His gaze finally settled on a red headed woman, and his blood ran cold.

At first glance she seemed like a normal person, easy to take out in a fight and not a threat. But Nico's senses screamed at him that she was _dangerous,_ and the intelligent glint in her eye made him believe that instinct.

"Who are you?" he blurted out, slightly nervous. He didn't feel his sword or knives, as they probably had been confiscated by whoever was holding him. He was highly aware that that left him at a distinct disadvantage if a fight broke out.

"That's the question we all seem to be wondering today." Her voice wasn't hostile, but she somehow still made Nico's adrenalin spike. "Actually, I would appreciate it if _you_ answered that particular question for me." That time her tone wasn't so pleasant.

"My dad told me not to share personal information with strangers." Nico knew that he shouldn't provoke her, but he couldn't resist. He had no idea who the person standing in the shadows was, yet she was threatening him. He might be less prideful than his father, but he was _not_ going to take that lying down.

Perhaps for the better his unsatisfactory response didn't faze the mysterious woman. "Then I guess it's fortunate we're not here to talk about you," she replied coolly.

Nico blinked. Based on the situation he had expected her to push harder, even if she didn't really want that information. "Then why don't you let me go?" he tried.

In response, the woman Nico decided to call Red stepped forward to the table and opened a thin file. She pulled out a photograph and pushed it over toward Nico. "Because you are going to tell me," she tapped a finger on the picture, "about her."

A grainy picture of Hecate stared up at him, and Nico felt his stomach sink. He should have known that was coming, he should have been prepared. That was one topic he would _never_ give his captors information on. He looked up and plastered a confused expression across his face. "What?"

The red headed woman's expression remained blank, and Nico hoped he had fooled her. "Tell me about her," she repeated, nodding to the picture.

"Um… she looks about twenty eight?" Nico tried, purposely misunderstanding the request. Red stared at him, impassive. After a minute of silence he broke. "Look, I don't know her. Can I go?"

Red leaned forward across the table and locked eyes with Nico. "I think you do know her. I also think it's in your best interest to cooperate with my request." He let out a short bark of laughter. He had heard _that_ one before.

"I see you don't believe me," she said. "Perhaps I should explain something to you. Currently, you are not my enemy. She _is_ my enemy. However, if you were to aid her in any way, such as keep her secrets, then you might also find yourself my enemy. I imagine that would be quite uncomfortable for you, as you are locked up where it is very easy for me to… talk… with you.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time before I consider us on opposite sides of this conflict. Tell me what you know about this woman."

Nico weighed his options. He knew that if he didn't divulge anything he would be in a very bad position. He didn't doubt that the person in front of him could make him regret not cooperating, even if he had really known nothing. But at the same time, he didn't know what she would do with the information he was handing over. She could try to join Hecate, which wouldn't be good. Or she might try to kill Hecate, which would end badly for everyone involved.

He decided to take the smaller risk and give away some information, even though he would no longer be able to pretend he didn't know anything. "Her name… her name is Hecate."

Red leaned back. Nico could tell that even though she appeared to be relaxed, she was still on guard. She looked at him steadily, not speaking, and once again Nico broke the uncomfortable silence.

"I don't know anything else. I've just heard people talk-"

"Nico Di Angelo," she interrupted. He gaped at her, completely blindsided. How did she know his last name? No one but Hecate and himself knew that in this universe. It wasn't possible.

"I know many things, and I am not easily tricked. I know that you know more than most about Hecate. I know that there are no records of you until roughly a month ago, which is about the same time she showed up. I know that Hecate hates you, and I know that your goal is to take her down. I also know that you are fairly smart. So don't act stupid. Tell me what you know."

"Why should I?" Nico hissed, suddenly furious. Red knew too much about him, and he knew nothing about her. He was weaponless, held captive, and being threatened. He was being repetitively asked to spill secrets about the person who had taken care of him for years, and he knew so little about the situation he didn't even know the morally right thing to do. He was frustrated, slightly scared, and highly annoyed.

Red stared at him, silent as he fumed. She was looking at him intently, and Nico got the uncomfortable feeling he was being judged. Abruptly she strode over to him, and Nico tensed for the blow that was sure to come.

He looked at her in confusion when she started unlocking his handcuffs, carefully avoiding his injury. She pulled him up by his good arm and strode over to the door. She put her hand on the metal, and the door swung open, revealing a dim, small, and dirty passageway. "What are you doing?" Nico asked, but she didn't answer. She gestured for him to follow her, and Nico slowly walked behind her.

The place was obviously underground and underfunded. Nico glanced at the wet stone walls in disgust and wondered what he had stumbled upon. Perhaps some secret society of vigilantes? As if hearing his thoughts the woman glanced back at him and smirked. "It doesn't look like much, does it?"

Nico didn't reply, sure that anything he could have said would have been either a blatant lie or offensive. The place was frankly gross. Coming from a demigod, that was saying something. So when they eventually came to an elevator, he felt perfectly justified when he hesitated before getting in. If the elevator was like everything else he had seen here, it would break while they were in it, sending them tumbling to their deaths. If it worked at all, that is.

"Coming?" That one word was designed to taunt him. He gritted his teeth and stepped forward into the deathtrap, ignoring the new smirk she sent his way. As the elevator began its perilous journey _down,_ the woman finally introduced herself.

"My name is Natasha Romanoff. And this," she said when the doors opened, gesturing grandly, "is SHIELD."

Nico's eyes widened. If he hadn't seen Olympus, his jaw would have dropped. He barely noticed when Natasha grabbed his shoulder and propelled him forward out of the elevator.

People in expensive suits hurried past, carrying holographic screens and tablets. A giant eagle spread its stone wings in the middle of the airy room, and high tech computers buzzed every direction Nico looked. It was like stepping into the future. What really got him, though, was the window.

They were at least 30 stories up, probably higher. But the elevator had traveled down. "I thought we were underground," he managed to get out.

"That's to confuse prisoners. We make them think they're underground, so if they manage to escape they go up. Which, of course, gets them caught again."

Nico had so many questions he couldn't sort through them all, but he managed to pick one to verbalize. "Why are you showing me this?"

Natasha started walking again as she spoke. Nico hurried to catch up to her.

"You asked why you should tell me about Hecate, and I know you asked for the right reason. So, I decided to show you. SHIELD is an American agency that deals with… unusual threats to the public. Hecate falls among that category of threats. When you fought with her, you showed a desire to stop what she is doing. That desire coincides with our objective. Unfortunately, we weren't sure we could trust you, hence the interrogation. But now that you know who we are and what we do, perhaps you would be willing to tell me more about Hecate."

Nico nodded, overwhelmed. If these people were trained to fight beings like Hecate, it wouldn't be a bad decision to team up with them. He ignored the twinge of guilt in his chest at the thought of betraying the goddess, and reminded himself that she did need to be stopped. He focused on the dozens of questions of swirling in his head to distract himself.

Natasha stopped in front of a door and knocked. "Come in," a gruff voice answered, and she opened the door.

"Agent Romanoff and Di Angelo. Good," the same voice said.

Nico almost cracked up when he saw who was speaking. The dark man was wearing an eye patch coupled with a leather trench coat. He looked like a classic villain from some old movie. Nico's amusement faded when the man turned to scan him. He suddenly got the same vibe Natasha had been giving off earlier, and the demigod realized that whoever this person was, he was not to be crossed.

"Director, Nico has information on Hecate," Natasha said, giving Nico a look. Nico computed the word "Director" and all of a sudden understood the feeling he was getting. The person in front of him was in charge of SHIELD, which made him very dangerous. It was just his luck to get pulled into another universe after two consecutive wars and meet one of the most dangerous people in said universe. Actually, he corrected himself, it was just his cousin's luck. This seemed like something Percy would get into.

An awkward silence descended on the room, pulling Nico out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw that both the Director and Natasha were waiting for him to say something, so he coughed and began.

"Well, Hecate has some… special abilities."

"I gathered that." Nico started at the dry humor, incredulous that either of the people before him would say such a thing. Neither had any expression of amusement on their face indicating that they were the one to interrupt, so Nico shook his head and continued.

"You could categorize them into two things, really. Witchcraft and necromancy."

This time it was obviously Natasha that interrupted. "Necromancy? Like, summoning the dead and controlling them?" Nico winced. That had always been a sore spot with his father.

"Pretty much," he replied.

"Why hasn't she used that yet? From what you've said, she's only utilized the "witchcraft" category of her powers," the Director asked.

This part Nico wasn't entirely sure about, but he gave them his best guest. "Hecate hasn't recovered enough from the univ-" he cut himself off. There were some things he was not going to tell these people, and the fact that Hecate had transported them from a different universe was one of those things. "She isn't at full strength. Necromancy is difficult at the best of times, but right now she's weak. That's why she's trying to gather so many followers. The more she has, the stronger she gets. Right now she can only do the more harmless spells, but when she achieves full strength you can expect her to summon skeleton warriors and ghosts."

He paused to let the two mortals absorb that for a minute. "Do you know why Hecate is doing this at all?" Natasha asked. "Why is she attacking us?"

"_You will suffer as your world crumbles," Python hissed. _Nico pulled himself out of the memory and lied. "I don't know," he said, although he knew that the real reason was revenge. She wanted to make him watch as innocents died, and only after many were dead would she finally kill him. In a sick way, it was payback for making Python watch as Gaia was killed.

"Wait, wait, wait," a new voice interrupted. Nico whipped around, hand going to where his sword would have been. "Did you say that right now she can only do the more harmless spells? Are you saying the attacks will get _worse?"_

Nico had to give himself a moment before responding. The man behind him had somehow slipped into the room without Nico knowing, which was disturbing. As a demigod he was supposed to have advanced reflexes.

"Yeah. What she's been doing is nothing compared to what she is capable of," he responded.

The new man nodded, swore serenely at the new information, and stuck out a hand to introduce himself. "Cole Bayard, pleased to meet you."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Cole. Nico barely had time to wonder about that before Cole changed his mind. "Just kidding," he said, "my name's Clint Barton." They shook hands, and Clint walked over to Natasha's side.

"What else can you tell us about Hecate?" Clint inquired.

"She's not going to trust people easily." Nico continued. "When she gets more followers she'll choose a few to keep close and help her run everything, but the master plans she'll keep close to her chest.

"There are two people she will trust, however. Hound and Polecat."

"Skunk?" Clint asked incredulously. Nico was starting to get the feeling he was the least professional of all the SHIELD operatives in the room.

"Don't call Polecat that unless you're trying to provoke her. She'll get angry if anyone calls her skunk." Nico knew that from personal experience. _That_ had been a serious mistake. He had smelled for days.

"Do you want to discuss animal names all day?" The Director asked, annoyed.

Nico cleared his throat and started again. "Anyways, Hound and Polecat are her familiars. They can shape shift between their human form and animal form, and Hecate trusts them greatly. The three are emotionally connected, so if you could get one to change sides, which is doubtful, then you would weaken the other two."

The Director nodded and began to speak, changing the subject abruptly. "On another subject, Nico, you need a place to stay. We have bunks in the west wing that Agent Barton will show you to. One of those will be your room where you will stay until Hecate is dealt with. You are free to explore that section of the building, but please don't leave it. You are our only source of information on Hecate, and it would be bad for everyone if you were to go missing." There was a subtle threat in there, but Nico didn't pay attention. He was already trying to find a way to escape. There was no way he was going to stay in this government building.

Leaving would have to wait until later, however. Clint was pulling him toward the door, and he would need to know more about the building before breaking out.

Nico was able to learn a lot about the layout of the building in the next few minutes. The Director's office was in the east wing, so Barton had to take him all the way across SHIELD's headquarters. He made note of the general layout of the corridors, but got distracted and didn't pay as much attention as he had originally planned.

Several times they passed advanced glass labs that struck Nico's interest. He was by no means a son of Athena, but he glimpsed several things that would intrigue anyone. Regrettably, each time he paused to look Clint would tell him to hurry up.

"Are you enjoying this?" Nico asked after the fifth time he was pulled away. A smirk tugged at the corners of Clint's mouth, and he shrugged innocently.

"Most of that stuff _is _classified," he replied, dodging the question. The amusement in his tone gave away the real answer though. Nico scowled.

"Hey! Legolas!" Nico turned around to find who had said that, and was surprised to recognize Tony Stark. He had been in this universe for a very short time, but even he knew about the billionaire. Nico briefly wondered what the man would be doing at SHIELD, but upon reflection he realized that between Iron Man and his technological genius it would probably be more weird if he _wasn't_ involved with the organization.

"Stark." Barton's greeting was anything but warm.

Tony smirked. "You wound me with your lack of affection. I think I'm going to go and cry," he stated sarcastically. Clint rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

Tony noticed Nico hovering in the background and strutted over to the teen, still talking. "Who's this, Katniss? If Fury's started kidnapping kids, I'll have to report him to the government."

"I'm Nico," the demigod muttered at the ground. He wasn't social on the best of days, and today he had met more people than he wanted to in a month. Unfortunately, the genius didn't seem annoyed by the curt answer, and draped an arm across Nico's shoulders. Nico had to fight the urge to punch the man.

"And what's a kid like you doing here?" Tony asked. "I hope they're not recruiting you." His expression was light and joking, but his voice held more seriousness. Nico suddenly understood that despite the joking front the man put on, he did have a strong set of morals that he wouldn't hesitate to defend.

Clint seemed to catch on to the billionaire's thought process. "Relax, Tony. The kid's just going to stay here for a little bit until a threat passes. We're not going to send him on a mission or anything."

Tony relaxed a minuscule amount, but his expression became affronted. "Stay here? Stay _here?_ Are there even proper showers in this building? Or beds? He's going to look like a cave man by the end of the week!"

"We have rooms specifically for this purpose, Tony. Many people have stayed here before," Clint said, suddenly sounding wary. Tony snorted.

"Yeah, except this time the person staying over night isn't a prisoner. You stay here. I'm going to have a word with old Nicky. Wait, no. I don't trust you won't run off."

Tony grabbed a handful of Nico's shirt and moved to do the same to Clint. At Clint's glare, he shrugged and started to pull the son of Hades into one of the glass labs. Clint grudgingly followed along behind.

"Hey! You in the blue shirt. No, you, not you," Tony said, pointing to a woman who was studying a large crystal diligently. When she looked up, he continued. "Keep an eye on these two, alright? Don't let them leave. I should be back soon to deal with them. If not, I want my gravestone to be expensive. Got it?" She nodded once and immediately looked back down at her work. Clint and Nico could have left right then and she wouldn't have noticed.

Tony sighed. "You two. Stay put, okay? Or I'll die your bow pink." The last part was directed toward Clint, who just arched an eyebrow.

Tony disappeared, and after a while Nico wandered closer to the woman who was supposed to be watching him. The crystal she was studying enticed him, _called_ to him. He ignored the warning glare sent his way and extended his good arm to brush the hard, clear surface.

As his fingers touched the crystal something like electricity jolted up his fingers, arcing through his body. He stumbled back, numbness creeping through his limbs, and he didn't even realize he was on the floor until Clint's face appeared above him, speaking rapidly. His words sounded jumbled and foreign, but after a few seconds Nico managed to make them out.

"Are you okay? Nico, answer me. What's wrong?" Clint's voice was calm, but an undercurrent of concern leaked through.

A few more seconds passed before Nico could reply. "I'm fine," he said, and it wasn't even a lie. The numbness had faded, and he felt like nothing had happened. He pushed himself up and leaned against a wall. Clint looked at him disbelievingly, so Nico repeated himself. "I'm fine, seriously."

Clint frowned but let the matter drop, and the woman who had been studying the gem rushed to apologize. "I'm so sorry. It's never done that before. If I had known I wouldn't have let you touch it-"

"It's okay," Nico interrupted, and she smiled sheepishly. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Tony walked back in the door.

"Pack a bag, Robin Hood. And get your girlfriend to do the same," he said triumphantly.

"Nat is not my girlfriend, Tony," Clint said, annoyed.

"And De Nile is not just a river in Egypt, my friend. By the way, who said anything about our resident spider? I could have been talking about anyone," Tony observed.

Nico ignored that to pick out the more important part of Tony's first sentence. "Pack a bag?" he inquired.

"Yep," the genius said, popping the p. "I've convinced Fury to not hold you prisoner here, as I can provide a suitably secure housing arrangement. Unfortunately, spy number one and two have to tag along, as Fury gets paranoid when he doesn't have eyes everywhere. While, I say paranoid, but I really mean more paranoid," Tony paused, annoyed. "I'm forgetting something. What am I forgetting?" He spun around, looking for help. "Oh! I remember. Here are you freaky archaic weapons." Nico was tossed a bundle of cloth, and when he opened it he saw his sword and knives.

Nico didn't know how the man had convinced the Director to let him go, or why he had even bothered to help Nico in the first place, but he wasn't complaining. After all, calling an entire floor of Stark Tower his was satisfying.

When he got back to camp, he would so make the Stoll brothers jealous.

* * *

A/N: Okay, first things first. Thank you SO MUCH for the amazing reviews. They really helped encourage me, and I can't thank you people enough for taking the time to do that.

Secondly: I'm not sure I should keep this chapter. I have re-written it multiple times, and I'm still not satisfied with this one. If people actually make it through the muddle of words and review saying they want me to re-do it, I will. I fully recognize that I shouldn't post things if I feel this way about them, but to be honest I kind of got tired writing this over and over and over. An honest review saying that I need to do it again, however, would motivate me to attempt it once more.

Also, I'm so sorry! First I was on vacation, and then I was at camp, so I had barely any time to write. Hence the two week wait.

And finally. PATIENCE. I know it's painful seeing Nico powerless. It's like spider-man 2. But if you just have a little patience… you won't even need much… I promise.


	5. Chapter 5

Having an entire floor to himself was not as awesome as it originally seemed. Earlier that evening at SHIELD, when Tony first offered it, the idea seemed great. Now, as he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, Nico realized that accepting was a mistake. He was used to resting under the open sky, or his cabin at camp, not the high-tech tower that he currently resided in. He had spent over two hours trying in vain to loose consciousness, and he was ready to give up.

"It's not like I have to fall asleep now, anyway," he muttered, rising. "If I want to stay up late and wake up at noon, other people can deal with it." He ignored the traitorous thought that reminded him it wouldn't make a good impression on the three adults currently tasked with looking after him. He didn't care what they thought of him.

The annoyed teenager stalked out of the bedroom and across the hall. He slammed open another door, and plopped himself down by the giant window that acted as a wall. He looked out over the city of New York, sighing.

Nico didn't think he would ever get used to the new skyline. It was taller than the one he was used to, and the image only served to drive home the "different universes" aspect of his life.

"Sounds like you've got a lot on your mind." Nico jumped up at the voice, and frowned at the shadowed figure in the doorway. Tony had said that this floor was his. No one else should have been there. "What are you doing here?"

Natasha stepped forward, and Nico relaxed. Despite their initial meeting, he didn't feel threatened by her. Once the interrogation finished, he realized that she really wasn't as cold as she pretended to be, and he had a feeling that she wouldn't hurt him.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied.

"So you came here?"

"This is the best view in the tower," she said, nodding at the window. "Don't you agree?" He hesitated before looking out the window again, instinctively sensing something was wrong. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Everything was destroyed. The buildings were burned-out husks, and the streets were empty. The city was dark, lit only by the moon, and Nico shivered. The only word to describe it was dead. The city was dead.

"It's your fault, you know." Natasha's voice turned soft and dreamy. "If you hadn't come here, this wouldn't have happened. All this death… you're to blame."

She reached out and gripped his shoulder tightly. "You need to leave, Nico. Before your presence here hurts anyone else."

All of a sudden they weren't in the tower. They were on a sidewalk, staring up at the buildings surrounding them. As Nico watched the structures fell, metal tumbling down in a terrible rain. The cement beneath his feet cracked, and the pavement on the street crumbled.

A woman stumbled out of the growing cloud of dust, coughing. She limped forward, blood dribbling out of her mouth. Her gaze locked on Nico's, she parted her lips to form a plea for help, and collapsed to the ground. Even without his powers, he could tell she was dead.

"Too late. You should have left sooner. Why didn't you, Nico?" Natasha asked, her voice breaking. "Why did you come here and kill us all? Why did you have to kill her?" The last question was asked with a pointed look at the fresh corpse by Nico's feet.

Slowly, Natasha morphed into Hecate. "Why did you have to kill her?" she repeated.

Nico felt numb. He knew he was dreaming, but the destruction around him felt all too real. He had experienced nightmares about Hecate before, but this time felt different. He somehow knew that she was real, and not a figment of his dreaming mind. "Did you do this?" he said, dreading yet already knowing her answer.

"Not yet. But I will."

The numbness left him and Nico replied fiercely. "I will never allow that to happen."

The goddess smirked. "You won't be able to prevent it, _Nico._ But that's not why I'm here. As fun as giving you a quick glimpse of the future is, I have something more important to discuss." She waved a hand, and the devastation disappeared. A swirling grey mist surrounded Nico, obscuring his vision. The only thing he could see clearly was Hecate, but in the corner of his eye he glimpsed a deformed figure running. He tried to see it clearer, and the mysterious shape vanished.

"What was that?"

"None of your concern," she said sharply, daring him to question further. For once, his brain did the smart thing and he shut up.

"I'm here to help you, believe it or not. I've noticed that you seem to be having a bit of trouble accessing your powers. As your old mentor, I naturally see it as my duty to rectify that." She smiled sweetly. It was horrifying.

"What did you do to me?" He had suspected that Hecate was responsible for _that_ particular set of difficulties.

"_I _didn't do anything to you. Unless, of course, you are referring to the little relocation spell I performed." Nico watched her suspiciously. He knew that wherever this was going, he wouldn't like it.

Hecate continued. "Like I said before, my sole intention right now is to help you. Give you your inherited abilities back."

"Why?" Nico questioned. There was no way she would do this unless she had something to gain from it.

She ignored his inquiry. "You know, a different pantheon in charge leads to subtle differences in the supernatural energy flow. It makes it a little harder for people like you to access it.

"That's why your powers are coming in bursts. Your body saves up energy, you use the majority of that energy, and then your body keeps you from using more so you don't overexert yourself. In time, of course, you would adjust, but it would take far to long to do so. You wouldn't be able to join in the fun!"

With that, the goddess gripped his head between her hands, murmuring words in a language Nico didn't recognize. A bolt of something that felt like fire raced through his limbs, and Hecate disappeared.

The grey mist evaporated, revealing the doomsday landscape he had been dreaming about before the interruption. He watched helplessly as the world crumbled, when without warning a voice spoke. It vibrated through the air and Nico felt it in his bones. It rang with power, and he knew without a doubt who it was.

"_Soon. Soon, I will rise once more and the world will kneel before me."_

The demigod jolted awake, instinctively raising a hand to defend himself. Spears made of shadow pierced the wall opposite his bed, and the temperature dropped violently.

For a moment he panted, flat on his back, frozen in place. After a moment he exhaled, laughing at himself. Gaia was dead. The only real part of the dream had been Hecate, and even that had been good.

Judging by the state of his wall, he had his shadow control back. Which didn't make sense, but was wonderful.

Whatever the goddess's reasoning was, her actions had been a fatal mistake. She would be much easier to defeat now. Nico smiled in satisfaction, and promptly passed out.

* * *

Clint leaned against the doorway and frowned. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

Natasha paused, and then continued moving forward. "How did you know I would be here?" she replied in a low undertone.

Clint snorted. "We've been partners for how many years? I knew when you woke up, and it was kind of obvious where you were going."

Her lips quirked upward in a bittersweet half smile. The ability to tell when the other was awake had only been developed by necessity. It was a surprisingly useful skill to have on missions, but when they were safe they usually turned that "mission mode" part of their brains off.

Still, she should have known Clint would wake up when she did. They shared the same floor after all, even though Tony had offered them each their own. After too many nights sleeping in the same ditch or cramped cell, it was weird to not be close to the other when falling asleep.

"I asked JARVIS to wake me up if Nico had a problem," she admitted after a moment of silence.

Clint crept over to her, conscious of the sleeping boy in front of them. "You're worried about him."

"Yes."

"It's because you see yourself in him, isn't it." The archer wasn't asking a question, but rather acknowledging a truth.

"Yes. Clint, have you watched him? He's been through so much, and he's trying so hard to do the right thing. He's… he needs guidance, and someone to be there for him."

"I know, Tasha, believe me, I know," Clint said. "But even if we do want to help him, there's no guarantee he'll let us. I _have_ watched him, and he doesn't seem like one to rely on others. Besides, we can't just ignore that he's connected to Hecate."

She looked down at Nico, sleeping peacefully, and her voice became urgent. "I've seen evil, Clint. You've seen it too. This boy, whoever he is," she cast a look over her shoulder at the damaged wall, "_whatever _he is, he's not it."

Clint sighed. "Do you remember what happened with the crystal? There's a reason that only he provoked such a reaction to it. And as you just pointed out, _look at his wall._"

"Clint…" Natasha trailed off. She realized what he was doing. Coming at the situation from every angle, analyzing and studying it. That _was_ what they had both been trained to do.

But this was different. This wasn't just a mission, it was the life of an innocent boy. Her time at SHIELD had allowed Natasha to develop a set of morals she could keep, even on missions, and she wasn't about to let one order throw that away.

Clint followed her thought process, even though neither said a word. "We won't tell Fury what we've noticed about him, then."

Natasha would never agree out loud to such a statement, but she knew that Clint knew she approved.

And if Fury did find out they were keeping things from him, that wouldn't be a problem. He would understand. She wouldn't be surprised if the Director actually ended up supporting their decision, because that way _he _wouldn't be obliged to tell the World Security Council about Nico.

The conversation finished, Natasha turned away from the bed. She was satisfied that the teenager was okay, so she had no more purpose to remain. The disturbance JARVIS had alerted her to was a nightmare, but by the time she arrived it was over.

Clint stopped her retreat with one hand. "I think his nose was bleeding." When Natasha glanced at Nico's pillow, she saw Clint was right. There was blood on it, and on the teen's face.

"I'll go get him another pillow case," she said, and her partner nodded. She returned to find Clint in the same position, but Nico's face was clean of all blood. She nodded her thanks, and together, the two adults managed to change the case without waking the slumbering kid.

That done, the two finally left, leaving no evidence that something important had been decided.

* * *

Tony didn't know why he smelled breakfast. He was 90% sure that it was an hour after dinner, and he really didn't appreciate the interruption. He had been busy working on upgrades for the Iron Man suit, but the smell wafting down into his lab was delicious. To delicious to ignore, in fact.

He stumbled up one flight of stairs and rubbed his eyes blearily. Clint was laboring over the stove, making what looked like pancakes. "What are you doing?" Tony mumbled, collapsing down on a chair.

The spy looked up in bemusement. "What does it look like?"

"Why are you making breakfast?" Tony rephrased.

Clint raised one eyebrow and pointed at the clock. "It's seven thirty, Tony."

The genius frowned for a moment, before addressing JARVIS skeptically. "Is it really seven thirty?"

"It is thirty two minutes past seven in the morning, sir. If you remember, I informed you that it was one in the morning earlier today. When I suggested you go rest, you refused, most likely because you are a-"

Tony cut the AI off before the insult could be voiced. "Remind me why I programmed him with an attitude?"

Natasha spoke from right behind the man, causing the billionaire to curse and jump. She ignored his rhetorical question and said, slightly acidly, "I hope that you didn't stay up the entire night again."

"I need to put a bell on you two," Tony grumbled, eyes darting back and forth between the two spies. "You're going to give me a heart attack, and I'm not even an old man yet."

"Hey! Answer me," Natasha said. "Did you stay up all night?" Every word was pronounced clearly and with an emphasis, indicating her simmering annoyance.

Tony cleared his throat. "Technically I wasn't awake _all_ night. I did fall asleep on my desk for a reasonable amount of time-"

"Is that true, JARVIS?" she asked, cutting him off mid sentence.

"Sir was asleep for approximately ten minutes in the past 24 hours." Natasha glared at the man in front of her.

"I'm going to tell Pepper about this. Every time you're alone for more than three days you do this. Just because she's in China for a business meeting does not mean that you get to stop looking after yourself! I swear-"

Tony began to defend himself, speaking above the furious woman. "Hey! I was working on upgrades for the Iron Man suit so I could cover _your_ back the next time a megalomaniac decides to take over the world. And seeing as we have this Hecate girl running around-"

Natasha raised her voice, ignoring Tony's excuses. "You're like an irresponsible five year old. Do you need me to hold your hand and give you a bedtime? Because that's what your actions are indicating! At this rate-"

"Or I could just _not_ work on the suit, if that's what you want. That way, in the middle of battle-"

"You're going to kill yourself if you keep this up! I just don't get why-"

Almost at the same time they stopped, spotting Nico frozen in the doorway. He stared at them with wide eyes, an inscrutable expression on his face.

Clint cleared his throat awkwardly. "Come and get breakfast, Nico. Just ignore these two. They have this argument every time we visit."

Nico nodded and hesitantly made his way forward. Tony smiled at him. "Sorry," he said, "Sometimes Nat here gets unreasonable-" The female assassin stared at Tony, cocking her head to one side. The small movement was somewhat terrifying. Self-preservation instincts finally kicked in, and he shut up.

Clint leaned over to Nico, setting the pancakes on the table. "He claims he's a genius, but every time I see him I find it harder to believe. Is it just me, or is he really an idiot?" the archer asked.

His partner chimed in. "Don't be afraid to be honest. Tony needs knocked down a few pegs. Although, I doubt it's possible to do much damage to _that _ego."

Tony couldn't let that pass. "Hey! That's unfair. Nico knows I'm smart. And cool. More awesome than you two could ever hope to be, at least. Nico, tell them."

It seemed the teen couldn't resist. To late Tony realized that sarcasm was Nico's specialty. "You're right. You're as awesome and as intelligent as a blade of grass, and yet you _are_ better than they could ever hope to be."

Silence echoed around the room for a split second before Tony erupted into laughter. In less than a minute the kid had insulted all of them in one go. Tony knew that took natural talent.

Natasha's lips quirked upward and she raised an eyebrow. "Thanks," came her dry response. Clint's reply was considerably less dignified, as he proceeded to launch a napkin at Nico's head.

The rest of breakfast passed without incident, but the ice was officially broken. Nico joined in the friendly banter that the group volleyed back and fourth, gaining confidence as time progressed.

At the end of the meal, Tony turned to the teen sitting next to him. "I noticed you were interested in SHIELD's labs yesterday. I might not have their toys, but I've got a few things that might interest you." Tony knew that his stuff was just as advanced, if not more so, than SHIELD's. But he wanted to surprise the kid, and playing down his tech before demonstrating it was one way to get a jaw-drop reaction.

Nico hesitated for a moment, but the genius saw the curiosity in the kid's eyes. "Come on," Tony said, and turned to head downstairs.

As Tony and Nico left to go explore the workshop, the duo left behind shared a glance. Nico had gotten significantly closer to all three adults in that one meal. He was beginning to trust them, and he seemed to have forgiven Natasha for the interrogation. The boy hadn't noticed, but he had relaxed significantly from the start of the morning. An almost unnoticeable tension fell off his shoulders, and he smiled a bit more freely and genuinely.

"Perhaps we'll be able to help him after all," said Clint.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry. I'm horrible. I know, believe me. Three weeks, only 3,000 words, and a fluff chapter. But I promise, from here until this fic is done, I will update at least once a week. And I promise the next chapter has ACTION. Check next Thursday and Chapter 6, at minimum, will be up.

And I know I say it every time, but thanks so much to all who reviewed. I cannot say enough how much your support means to me. So thank you SunnyStormCloud, Radiant Celestial Aura, Pen-Always-In-Hand, The Huntress24, Guabii, Hellos It's Me, Wolf Girl13, and Guest.

And thanks also to xXSuper-FlyXx who left me the longest review to chapter 3, who I didn't figure out PMing in time to thank properly. (I have a feeling you would be more annoyed than pleased if I sent you a message now and clogged your inbox.) I was happy for days after reading you review.


	6. Chapter 6

Nico's first thought was that the nano-ball really shouldn't have exploded the window. Tony had said that it was a prank gadget, _completely_ harmless. Its only purpose was to cover whatever surface it was thrown at in an inky black. And even once the ball had spread out and covered something, it was supposed to be easy to peel up. The thing was _not_ supposed to be able to shatter glass.

So, naturally, his second thought was that the entire situation was Tony's fault. After all, if the insane inventor hadn't given the ball to the hyperactive teen in the first place, or if the man had warned said teen about the ball's _window exploding abilities,_ then nothing would have been damaged. Most likely. Possibly. Maybe.

His third thought was rude enough to make the Ares cabin proud. Because, it turns out, just because Nico threw something at a window and the window shattered does _not _mean that the projectile Nico threw was responsible for breaking the window. He could prove that statement by the cloaked figure that levitated through the gaping hole in the glass.

Nico summoned his sword from the shadows as an alarm broke out through tower. The cloaked figure stepped onto the floor of the room, and strode forward.

"Drop your weapon and come with me," the figure said.

Nico didn't comply, instead leveling his weapon at the intruder. "Who are you?"

"My name is irrelevant. Come with me, or I will make you." The person's words held no room for argument, and Nico scoffed.

"Yeah, no. I'm not stupid."

That response didn't seem to go over well. The figure raised a hand, revealing tattooed fingers, and chanted a word. Fire erupted in a circle around Nico, rising higher each second. It seemed that Hecate was teaching her followers how to be cliché.

The fire closed in around him. The heat was beginning to burn his skin. "Surrender your weapon and agree to come with me, or I will burn you until you are unconscious."

As far as threats went, that one was pretty minor. Still, it would be painful if carried out, and Nico really wanted to avoid being deep-fried.

The son of Hades mentally reached out to the shadows, commanding them. He bent them to his will, feeling the power rush through his veins and gather in his bones. With a single thought, he enveloped the circle of flames in darkness, and smothered them.

Releasing the shadows, Nico glared at the stranger in front of him and attacked. He lunged forward with his sword, stabbing at the chest of the figure. His cloaked enemy leapt backward in an effort to dodge the blade, and the person's hood fell down, revealing a face.

Black sigils decorated the woman's skin, designed to enhance and magnify power. Her eyes glowed yellow, and a black stripe cut down the length of her white hair.

"Skunk," Nico acknowledged. Hecate's second familiar hissed, showing off sharp, pointed teeth.

"Do _not_ call me that," she growled, before summoning her own blade and swinging it toward him.

Their swords met with a ringing crash, which gave Nico the contact necessary to disarm her. Polecat disengaged, recognizing the move for what it was, before stabbing at him once again.

Nico parried the thrust, finding himself on defense. The familiar was strong, fast, and had centuries of experience. As the two exchanged a flurry of blows, she slowly advanced, pressing him back further and further.

Polecat smiled, and Nico realized that she knew she had won. He couldn't keep his resistance up for long, and soon she would get in a blow that would cripple him. He had to do something to even the odds.

Summoning a soldier wouldn't work. He was many stories off the ground, so there wasn't anything _to_ summon. He couldn't afford to concentrate on forming a shield, either. He needed to get somewhere where he would have a natural advantage.

Nico let Polecat advance, slowing his counter-strikes and blocks. He backed up, letting her press her advantage, but subtly moved over to the left. Slowly, bit by bit, he maneuvered the fight into a critical position. After what felt like an eternity, it was finally behind him.

Nico lunged forward, slipping from defense to offense in a split second. His tactic change forced Polecat off balance. In the precious moment in which she recovered, he yanked open the door behind him and ducked into Tony's obscenely big pantry.

"Hiding?" The woman asked, condescension dripping from the single word. "This is hardly the best place to do so." She took a step forward, which was all Nico needed.

"JARVIS, lights off," he said. Everything plunged into darkness, and the door automatically swung shut, locking itself.

Nico closed his eyes and expanded his senses. In this environment, he could _feel_ everything. Shadows became his eyes, and in a room full of dark, he knew where everything was. Or in this case, where every_one_ was.

He stepped forward lightly and lunged. He felt his blade slice skin, but Polecat managed to evade the majority of the strike. She retreated until she was pressed against a wall, blocking his whirlwind of attacks while protecting her back.

Like Percy, Nico's element strengthened him. In this environment he was better, able to match Polecat. He had almost gained the upper hand when she gritted out a word, and once again the odds changed.

Green light exploded from her palm, temporarily blinding the demigod. He flung himself to the ground to avoid her blade, and tugged a shield of shadows to defend him. As soon as he constructed the cover, metal clashed against it, and he heard a muffled curse filter through it.

With a moment bought to recollect himself, Nico went over options in his head. The fact that none of the others had come to help him yet meant that they too were engaged in a fight somewhere. If he stayed in his current position, then Polecat would go attack them and come back to him later. Even if that did have some tactical promise, Nico didn't have the time to construct such a plan.

That meant his only option was to continue fighting the familiar. Which would be interesting, because there was no way he could beat her. He was powerful, but not powerful enough to overcome her magic. And even if he could beat her, there was no guarantee what would happen.

In this universe, there were no gods. Therefore, there was no Tartarus. If Polecat was killed, she might die permanently with no place for her to go reform. Or she might not disintegrate at all, surviving no matter how badly she was injured. Nico wasn't willing to risk that happening.

Which left him with only one option: restrain her until she could become someone else's problem.

That thought in mind, Nico violently pushed his shield upward, changing and stretching its form until it became something else. He raised his sword to block the downward strike that inevitably came once he got rid of his shield, and then pinned Polecat to the wall with ropes of darkness. As an after-thought, he added a gag to keep her from chanting an escape spell.

That's when he heard the scream.

* * *

Clint ducked under Natasha's kick, immediately straightening to deliver a punch. She grabbed his fist, twisting his arm, and Clint swiped a leg behind hers to escape the hold. Natasha released him, jumping upward and flipping over him, landing behind the archer.

She delivered a series of rapid punches that Clint avoided by dropping to the ground and rolling. He sprung back to his feet a moment later, raising an arm just in time to block a kick to his chest. He pulled the foot forward, so Natasha dropped to the ground. Clint was forced to let go of her foot, and she leapt to her feet.

They both took a step back, circling, before simultaneously freezing.

"Did you just hear-" Clint began.

Natasha nodded. "A lot of glass shattering."

"I thought that Tony reinforced all the windows in the Tower," said Clint, his eyes narrowing.

"He did," she replied.

"Then what was-" He was cut off by the intruder alarm. Instantly, both spies raced over to the weapons portion of Stark's gym. Clint grabbed his bow and Natasha pulled on her gauntlets, grabbing a handgun once she was finished.

Together, they sprinted to the stairs. Neither said it, but both were aware that Nico was on the floor above them where they had heard the glass shatter.

Their attempt to reach Nico was stopped, however, when a man appeared at the foot of the stairway. "You can not interfere. Remain down here."

Clint said nothing, but strung an arrow on his bow and released it at the intruder. The movement was rapid and too quick to react to, but the person disappeared before the weapon could hit its target.

Natasha spun around at the faint sound of wind behind her, firing a shot instinctively. The man had reappeared, and her bullet hit him in the leg. He swore, then through his pain yelled something indistinguishable.

Natasha shivered violently. Frost crept up the skin of her foot, and numbness spread throughout her body. Her breaths came out in white puffs of air, and exhaustion swept through her. She sank to the ground.

"Clint?" she murmured. "I think I'm going to sleep now."

Her partner slapped her across the face, bringing her back to a semi-alert state. "Hey! Nat, don't go to sleep. Stay awake, okay? Come on, you can do it."

She heard panic in his voice, and tried to reassure him. "I'm fine, Clint. I just need to rest for a moment." Her voice came out garbled and soft. She was cold. Really cold. And tired.

She closed her eyes, hoping to get a moment to rest. Above her, she heard Clint let out a yell, and forced her eyes open to see what was wrong. Her vision was blurry, causing her to blink a few times before she could see her surroundings clearly.

Clint was fighting a man, his bow on the ground near her fingers. He had a long cut on his arm, but it didn't seem to be deep or serious. As she watched, her partner punched the man's jaw, knocking him out.

The archer grabbed rope from the training area, and in a practiced movement efficiently secured his adversary. A second later, Clint was by her side.

"You still awake, Nat?" he questioned, urgency in his tone.

Natasha nodded sleepily.

"Good. You need to not fall asleep until we can get you help. Try to-"

He stopped when he heard the scream.

* * *

Tony was deep in thought when JARVIS alerted him to a message from SHIELD.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to be bothered with things from Fury," Tony said, annoyed.

"I would read the message, sir."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't. SHIELD is irritating. Really, JARVIS, do you think I want to-"

"Sir, I did comprehend your request, but I must insist that you take this message," repeated the AI. Something in the mechanical voice shut Tony up. The inventor glared at the ceiling and pulled out his phone. His face paled at the words on the screen.

"Prepare the suit, Jarvis, NOW!" The last word was voiced with overwhelming urgency. Tony quickly closed the files he had been reviewing, and sprinted over to his suit. "JARVIS, tell Fury we'll get there as soon as we can."

"Certainly, sir." And then the alarm sounded.

Tony let out a stream of curses. "Tell Fury that we'll get to SHIELD as soon as possible, but that we're under attack here too."

He didn't wait for a response, but instead charged downstairs, forgoing the Iron Man suit, to where he knew Nico was. He had just taken in the shattered glass covering the floor and the blood staining the carpet when the shadows _convulsed_ to form a woman.

Tony froze. He knew who she was… but it wasn't possible. He stumbled forward, reaching out to her, when he heard the most terrible sound in his life.

"Mother?" he whispered.

She continued to scream.

* * *

At two thirty in the afternoon, two days after SHIELD had introduced Nico to their agency, Hecate came looking for the teenager.

She teleported onto one of the restricted floors, ensuring that there were very few people to fight her. A miniature war broke out upon her appearance, with bullets and spells piercing the air.

So far, no one had been able to injure Hecate. She had managed to severely wound, if not kill, three people.

The situation was bad, and was steadily getting worse.

Agent Maria Hill ducked under a desk, crouching. She forced herself to stop thinking about the futility of the situation, gritted her teeth, and fired. Her bullet, instead of hitting the target, hovered in mid air for a moment and then fell to the ground. Hecate paused and cocked her head to the side, turning to stare right at the agent.

"You can not kill me with a gun, _mortal,_" Hecate spat. Maria winced. Anyone who could say "mortal" like that was bad news. She really didn't want to deal with another Loki. "But I think I can forgive your stupidity," Hecate continued. She yanked Maria up by the hair, ripped the gun out of her hands, and pressed a knife to her throat. "The only reason I'll kill you is if your colleagues prove to be as troublesome as you."

Raising her voice, she issued a louder threat. "If _anyone _attempts to stop me, I will _slit_ this poor girl's throat."

Agent Hill felt icy anger rise up inside her. She was a SHIELD agent, and one of the best to boot. She was Fury's right hand woman, and this _insane_ murdered had the gall to call her girl _and _use her as leverage. There was no way she would allow that.

Agent Hill threw her elbow back, allowing a smile to form on her face when she felt it connect against flesh. She let herself go limp, hoping to surprise Hecate with the deadweight. She was not disappointed, and the other woman dropped her.

Maria rolled away to a safe distance, simultaneously picking up her fallen gun. She came out of the roll firing, and was rewarded when all of her bullets hit her enemy's chest.

But Hecate didn't fall. She simply looked down at her clothing, now riddled with holes, and smirked. "I already told you, you can't kill me."

Maria fired again, this time aiming for Hecate's head.

The woman blinked, and the bullet changed course, hitting the wall behind her. "I have to admit, though, you show an admirable amount of bravery and loyalty to your cause. For that, I will spare you."

Maria backed up as Hecate strode toward her. Hecate reached out two fingers to touch Maria's forehead, connecting their minds, and for a moment the agent knew everything.

She knew that Hecate was not here for Nico, but rather to retrieve the crystal that the boy had had such a strange reaction to. She knew that Hecate was getting the location of the crystal from her own memories, and that Hecate had sent people to keep the three Avengers busy at Stark Tower.

The connection went two ways, with Hecate able to see Maria's thoughts and Maria able to see Hecate's. So Maria saw the Greek and Roman gods, and multiple universes stretching across time and space. She saw grief and the thirst for revenge, and the plan to sate those emotions. She saw plotted destruction, and the inevitable devastation to come.

But perhaps more importantly, Maria was able to discover the desperate battle going on in Hecate's mind. And suddenly, Maria understood.

Then the moment was over, the hand retracted from her forehead, and Agent Hill fainted, everything she had just learned forgotten.

* * *

Tony barely registered Nico running out of the _pantry_ of all places, or Clint rushing up the stairs. All he could see was his _mother,_ _alive_, standing in front of him and screaming in agony.

He dashed to her side, desperate to comfort her, but she pushed him away. She glared at him and stopped screaming, and though some part of him felt relieved, in a way the new situation was almost worse. Because now she wasn't _screaming, _she was _talking, _and her words were infinitely more painful than what her previous agonized noise had been.

"My god, you really did turn out to be a failure, didn't you? Your father always told me you would be, but I didn't want to believe it. _Look at you._ I'm ashamed to call you my son."

He took a step back, her words driving a knife into his heart.

"An alcoholic with more blood on his hands than he could ever hope to be rid of. Really, it's no surprise no one cares about you. Tony-"

"Hey!" Clint's voice whipped through the room, stopping Maria Stark's angry rant. "I don't know who you think you are, and I don't care. But if you don't leave in the next few seconds, I swear you will regret it."

Ms. Stark looked at the archer with thinly veiled hatred, before looking down at her stomach in horror. An arrow was sticking out of it, and blood pulsed out of the wound. She looked back at Tony, pleading for help.

"He did this. The man, over there." Her voice wavered, and she pointed at Clint. "Kill him, he's the reason I'm dead."

Tony looked over at Clint, who had gone still. "Tony, I didn't… that's not my arrow."

"I know." A soon as Tony finished speaking, the woman began to scream again.

She started out quietly, but soon her voice had risen to a piercing shriek, higher and louder than a human ever could be. Abruptly, she closed her mouth, and dissolved into a faceless figure made of shadows.

It began to reform, this time mimicking a man. He was dressed in a circus costume, and his face seemed kind and benevolent.

"What have you become?" He asked, addressing Clint. "You're a monster now. I tried to teach you to be good, but instead you became a murderer." Clint flinched, and Nico had seen enough.

The demigod snuck up behind the creature and stabbed it through the middle, twisting his sword until the thing dissolved.

Nico stared at Clint and Tony, smiling sadly. "That was Hecate's work. Don't pay attention to what those people just said. She designed it to say things that would hurt you, even if they aren't tr-"

Nico was violently yanked backwards. Shadows surrounded him, suffocating him. He tried to control the darkness, but it slipped out of his grasp, wild and hateful. It formed blades that cut into his skin, and Nico knew that if he didn't escape soon he'd be killed.

He gathered up his strength and focused as hard as he could, seconds later appearing in Tony's shadow. Slightly surprised that the shadow travel worked, the teenager took a moment before pushing Tony away from the _not _dead monster that had grabbed him. In different circumstances the man would have been invaluable, but without his suit on or a need for technical genius, Tony was more likely to get hurt than help.

Meanwhile, Clint was shooting fruitlessly into the shapeless, writhing mass of shadows. Each time the arrow just went through the thing and stuck, quivering, in the wall.

"Great," Tony said sarcastically. "It's only physically tangible when it feels like it. And my wall is damaged. At least it matches the window." He ducked as a whip of black lashed at his head. The whip hit the table, gauging out a deep scratch. "And now Pepper is going to know something weird happened. Maybe it would be safer for me to die now?"

Nico drowned out the nonsensical rant, and struggled to control the monster. It was made of shadows, so he knew he could do it. This was a creature he was born to control.

Clint shot another arrow, and the distraction was all Nico needed. He mentally seized the shadows making up the thing, and yanked them apart. The magic holding the thing together dissolved under the stress, and Nico smiled.

And then frowned. Clint had immediately sprinted back down the steps to help Natasha, yelling something about frostbite and hypothermia. Nico knew that he should go make sure she was all right, but his head _hurt._ He desperately needed a nap.

"Nico?" Tony's voice was concerned. "Are you okay?"

Nico nodded, and gestured to the elevator. "I'm just a little worn out. I'm going to go get a nap."

"You need medical attention."

"Seriously, Tony, I'm fine," Nico replied. "Go help Natasha."

Tony hesitated a moment, and then nodded. He turned to go help the two spies, but Nico stopped him.

"Also, there's someone tied up in the pantry. SHIELD will probably want to talk to her." Tony raised an eyebrow at that, but agreed to take care of it.

Nico went to his room and collapsed on his bed, before forcing himself up again. His nose had started to bleed.

* * *

Director Fury found her in SHIELD's R&D. "Agent Hill," he greeted.

"Sir," she replied, a hint of guilt in her voice. "I would have reported earlier, but someone required my assistance."

Fury noticed her vagueness and slightly defensive posture. Something was going on, and she wasn't telling him. He would keep his eyes open, but for now, he wouldn't pry.

"Sir, you already know what happened here, and before I give my report, I want to make a suggestion."

"Go ahead." Fury allowed.

"Based on the power Hecate displayed… I think it's time to call in the rest. We need to fully assemble the Avengers."

* * *

A/N: This took a little bit longer to get out than I wanted, but I did keep my promise! Also, sorry for any funny mistakes. I edited it many times, but this was a weird chapter. Stuff just kept appearing! Like magic!

And to all who reviewed, you have my gratitude! You all are wonderful, and keep me smiling like a loon for hours.

Wolfgirl- I can't reply to you directly, but thanks so much! I'm glad you like it, and the next update will come even quicker this time.


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